De:Bug Lounge

mailto:trerra@uta.fi

John Fanning
DJEntox@aol.com [not valid address any more]

As early as 1995, Erkki Rautio was making himself well known on
the
Internet through various electronic mailing lists devoted to different
aspects of techno. One of these was 313 list, devoted to Detroit techno.
He
and I first met there. I actually can't even remember what we E-mailed
about
but it must have had something to do with the fact that he lived in
Tampere,
Finland, a place which gets very little press here in America, where I
live.
We became fast electronic friends. Erkki began to collect more & more
information about the emerging Finnish scene which included a lot of
information about the Sähkö label as well as other Finnish techno
luminaries
like Aural Expansion, DUM Records and many others.

His devotion to his work
is quite amazing. Over the past 4-5 years he has collected so much
information about the Finnish electronic scene that basically every site
devoted to some aspect of it, be it Jimi Tenor, Panasonic or etc.,
includes
some sort of information Erkki has acquired on his pHinnWeb Internet site.
His site has grown from a hobby to nearly a career and he's rightfully
considered an expert on the music scene there. A visit to his site will
inform you on just about everything you should know about the Finnish
electronic scene, as well as other info about culture, philosophy & much
more
which anyone interested in the Finnish style of things will be interested.

One thing that helps contribute to Erkki being an "e-mail
legend" is that the contrasts between how Erkki is in E-mail and in real
life
are stark & amazing. Erkki always replies to my e-mails to him with witty
comments and one of the many in-jokes he and I share, from Britpop
references
to making fun of depression. I got the chance to go and visit him in
Tampere
early in 1998. I remember being a bit shocked by the 'live' Erkki who was
a
very quiet and sad looking fellow. He had the look of a depressed zoo
animal
but certainly had the mental capacity of a University professor. Being
with
Erkki was a bit awkward but underneath his exterior of gloominess it
seemed
like the Erkki who writes the hilarious emails was lurking about
somewhere.
Erkki wasn't as chatty in person and we got to hang out less than I
expected.

Erkki met up with me for one of my last days there where both he and I
DJ'd
at a
local club. His style of DJ-ing is very scientific. It's almost as if
a
professor was giving a beat-matched tutorial of Detroit & Finnish techno
yet
it did have a certain sense of utter appreciation that showed through.
Erkki
nodded his head along to things while he DJ'd but he still looked a bit
dour.
In typical American fashion I kept feeling like I had to cheer him up and
kept patting him on the back and rubbed his head for laughs. He did crack
a
smile at that, though. At the end of the night it seemed he was a bit
unhappy
again but I never quite found out why. Nonetheless, as soon as I returned
home a cheery E-mail from him was waiting for me.

Erkki certainly qualifies for one of the top spots among the
electronic mail & mailing-list legends. How he manages to deal with all of
the lists he's on, maintain his site, do freelance writing, DJ a good deal
and still have time for himself is an amazing feat capable of very few
people. Also, there is talk of a pHinnWeb society/collective
which will help bring
people
together to share information on an even grander scale.

Erkki truly is one of Tampere's shining stars and is just as
important to Finland's scene as is any of their "superstars".

If you happen to be in Tampere at the right time you can check out one of
the
Electric
Pleasures parties where Erkki DJ's the best in old & new
electronic
music and even alternative/indie pop/rock. [NOTE: There is no Electric
Pleasures club any more; check the latest activities here.]